The Story of the Year
by dreaming of butterflies
Summary: A Bang fic of the past year, Burke's thoughts on meeting Cristina, getting shot, and leaving. Because I can't get over the fact that they are not together anymore.
1. Waiting Takes Time

_Waiting takes Time_

Preston Burke is a shadow of the man he was a year ago. Just one year ago he was a cardiothoracic surgeon, one of the best in his field. He was arrogant and knew it. There as no one who could beat him. He was going to become chief. Yet circumstances changed, events that he had no control over happened. New competition came to the hospital; new distractions in the form of interns. He lost his chance to become chief. ; opportunities were missed both in his job and personal life.

So today he sits and watches the people around him. Some are talking and laughing, others read books, listen to music, or work on their laptops. Yet Preston just sits there, thinking, thinking about the past year, the choices he made, the things he did. But most of all Preston is thinking about her. He wonders what she is doing right now, how she is feeling and whether she is thinking about him.

Preston sighs, straightens up and moves his attention out the window, away from the people he was watching. He is sitting there today on a whim, well almost a whim. He never did anything o a whim, his mother taught him better than that, he always thought things out. He was always sure, he was always steady. Except when it came to her, she made him think twice, she made him doubt himself and their relationship. It was something about her nature that made him do the things he did.

Preston Burke fell in love, something he never thought he would do. Sure he thought of having a wife and kids one day, he was brought up to be a traditional man after all, but it wasn't something he sought after. All he ever needed in his life was the hospital and his job. Surgery was all he needed, he had his music and his books at home, but he wasn't there that often. And surgery gave him a feeling that made him feel on top of the world. It gave him a high which he thought only it could do, until he met her. She made him want to go home at night, showed him that there was more to life than his job. Sure she was all about the job ad surgery, and it was hard at times to convince her there was more. But the moment she was in his life, the job stopped being enough, he needed more.

So as he sits here today, waiting for the time to past, he can't help think of the past year and the rollercoaster it had been. He went through some of the darkest times of his life and some of the brightest times. As he looks out at the clouds passing over the sun he can't help but think pf the past year and the love of his life Cristina Yang.


	2. First Time

_First Time_

The new interns will be arriving today; a whole new bunch of surgery obsessed, eager to please, overachievers. If he was the man he was a year ago, he would be there picking out the weakest link in order to torture them. But he's not, he's not the man he was a year ago, and for torturing interns, all he sees now is his arrogance in the act.

Cristina was far from being the weakest link; he had seen her application before hand. She was the top of her class, even had a PhD; plus she was way too eager to perform her first surgery. No the Preston Burke of a year ago had to show the interns who was boss.

* * *

He was in charge of the OR today and he was definitely walking around like he owned the place. But what did he care, the opinions of others in this hospital didn't matter to him because 9 times out of 10 they only cared about the gossip, a waste of time in his opinion.

He had already looked over the interns applications when he picked one: George O'Malley, who barely even made it into the program. This would be fun, Preston thought, to watch him tremble and quake through the entire surgery, O'Malley would definitely mess up at some point and then he, Preston Burke, would swoop in and save the day. So he approached the intern table, picked O'Malley, watched the disappointed looks on the other interns and walked away. He was ready to teach these interns a lesson that they would not forget anytime soon.

* * *

Yet he noticed her right away, the one with the curly hair and deep brown eyes. She seemed so disappointed when he didn't pick her, which seems normal now, considering her extreme competitiveness. Cristina caught his attention like no other intern before; there was the harvest surgery, disturbing him when he was in the men's room. She was persistent; she was like no other intern who would've cowered under the look he gave her. Cristina was bold, brash, and definitely surgery hungry. It wasn't until the Liz Fallon case that changed his perspective on her; when he saw past her cold, hard exterior for the first time.

* * *

He wasn't going to do the surgery; Cristina was just another inter to torture, in his long history of torturing interns. And boy did he have her going, running all around the hospital getting tests and labs done. All in hopes of getting in on the Whipple. Liz and him were in on this together initiation of the new intern.

But right at this moment, he feels a little guilty. He has spent all of his years as an attending torturing interns and it had never really bother him until this very moment, when this hard, tough, intern was threatening to break down. He doesn't understand why he didn't see it before, her attachment to the old scrub nurse. All he thought she wanted was the surgery. But here he is now, in the stairwell, a little to close for professional contact, telling this intern, Cristina Yang, that she has to let go of the nurse. There is something in her eyes that he sees maybe a little bit of him when he started out; he feels a connection, something that he has never shared with an intern before, or maybe anyone else in his life.

* * *

Preston believes that was when it all started to change, that moment in the stairwell. Because it only takes one moment to change everything in your life. Looking into her eyes and seeing her for the first time, was what started the course for the year to come.

* * *

**A/N: I want to thank you for the reviews, and I'm not sure if I write Burke the best, but I'm trying.**


	3. Alone in the Universe

_Alone in the Universe_

Coffee, that's what started it all, Preston thinks as he smells the rich, deep, aroma of the drink. He looks at the woman drinking it, savouring it, and all he can see is deep brown eyes and wild, dark hair. Coffee will never again be just a drink; it will always carry connotations of being something more.

GAGAGAGAGAGAGAGAGA

Never before has he done this, never before has he broken a rule or done something that can be considered crossing the line. He loves his job, a lot, there is not one thing that someone could suggest that he would do that could jeopardize his career.

Except this, bringing an intern coffee; not that a cup of coffee should have any implications. He is just her boss bringing her a cup of coffee for all of the work she has done. But there's this nagging feeling in his stomach that he can't figure out, because he is only a boss bringing a subordinate coffee, or colleague, they are colleagues, and there's nothing more to it. Plus, he is Preston Burke and these sorts of things mean nothing to him, so what if she refuses a cup of coffee, she's just an intern.

So as he walks down the hall with two cups of coffee in his hand he keeps on trying to convince himself that it is nothing more than a cup of coffee.

GAGAGAGAGAGAGAGAGA

And that was how it began; she accepted his coffee, boosting his ego a little. She took his coffee and he walked away with a bounce in his step.

That day, Preston reflects wasn't the best of days, an intern, Meredith, made a huge error almost costing her career and putting a mark on his, which led to having a meeting with the chief and lawyers the next day. He also found out that he left a towel in a patient's chest; a mistake, _he _made a mistake. So the high he was feeling early that day definitely left him.

The next day was started off no better than the previous day; he had the meeting with the chief, he saved Meredith's ass, and he openly admitted the mistake he made. He also had to apologize to the patient he left the towel in, which made him feel like crap, because let's be honest who likes to apologize for causing someone pain.

The events of the last two days left him feeling exhausted, and all he wanted to do at the end was go home and to bed, yet he found an on call room that was open and free and seemed just as good.

He could blame his exhaustion and his wanting to clear his mind on what happened next, but he's not sure that his bad days are fully at fault. There was part of him, he can now admit, that wanted her, which is why he brought her the cup of coffee in the first place.

GAGAGAGAGAGAGAGAGA

After the day that he has had, all Preston wants is to rest in the on call room and not be disturbed. But that's not what the fates have in mind as he hears the door open. He turns to see who has interrupted him wondering if his eyes are playing a cruel trick on him.

He's not sure who he expects to see; a nurse, another attending, an intern, someone who has come to tell him of a patient or an emergency in the pit. But what he doesn't expect to see is her, standing there staring at him. Cristina is standing there, looking unsure of herself, a look that he hasn't seen on her before, and one he's sure he will never see again.

He can't decide on what she wants; is there a patient, or does she want to talk. They gave definitely shared a connection these past few days; from the coffee, to the short conversations and then the looks, especially the one after he left the Chief's office today. Or maybe she wants to thank him for saving Meredith; the two seem close.

He swallows hard when she closes and locks the door. This can't have a good outcome, this is tempting him, and she is definitely off limits; the forbidden fruit.

"Thanks for the coffee"

Her words hang in the air and he knows they shouldn't, and that this can only lead to trouble, but he takes a step forward, because after the day he has had, he needs this, right now, he just needs to escape.

So he walks toward her; he is no longer thinking, no longer wondering about what will happen. His thought process has gone out the window; he is in the moment; the two of them are the only ones alive for all he is concerned. She gasps before he kisses her and all he knows is the feel of her lips on his, the feel of her skin.

GAGAGAGAGAGAGAGAGA

A slight blush rises to his cheeks when he thinks of her and their first time together; she was amazing, she was always amazing, and he's glad that no one else can read his thoughts.

Preston straightens up and looks around, and everyone around him is lost in their own worlds, paying no attention to him. So he's thoughts stray once more to their first time together. She left very quickly afterwards, which didn't surprise him one bit, he expected her too. She was after all an intern and he was her boss; the implications of their "meeting" could be huge. This also gave him time to think and relax, and just enjoy their moment together.


	4. So Addicting

_So Addicting_

Burke checks his watch as he sits there, he definitely arrived too early but he couldn't stay in that hotel room any longer. He was cooped up there replaying the events of the last few days and he needed to get out. Yet now he was here replaying the events of the past year in his head. She wouldn't leave his head, anything he saw, touched or ate reminded him of her; it's not that he wanted to forget, it's just right now it was all too painful.

Burke's not sure if he wanted more at first, not a full out commitment, but he wanted some acknowledgement of what they were doing because she avoided him at all costs when they weren't together in the on-call room or he had some awesome surgery she wanted in on. He just wanted to figure her out, she was a mystery to him, and he wanted to make sure they wouldn't get caught, because he was her boss and they could both be in huge trouble if they got caught.

GAGAGAGAGAGAGAGAGAGAGA

On-call rooms were on thing, they had doors that locked, but a lab? Now they were tempting fate. There was really nothing to stop someone from walking in on them, but when he saw her this morning that thought didn't even cross his mind. He just saw her and felt that familiar feeling and he needed her right there and then. He was already addicted to her and it had been barely a week.

But a part of his brain that is realistic was catching up with the other part that was all about passion and living in the moment. He knew that they needed to talk about what was happening between them, because this could blow way out of their control if they were to get caught.

"Should we talk about this?" He was pushing his luck trying to get her to talk, he knew this but he wanted to know things, and her reaction didn't surprise him.

"Yeah definitely" A slight role of the eyes and she's out the door.

She was frustrating to say the least, avoiding him and all possible ways for them to connect, but he was nothing is not determined and he needed answers.

GAGAGAGAGAGAGAGAGAGAGA

He spent the next few weeks trying to get close to her. Bringing her soup when she was sick, seeking her out during the day just to and yet he received nothing in return. She didn't respond to her pages or talk to him when he did find her. He's not sure, even now, why he stuck around then, has it been any other girl and he would have walked away. But with her he chased after her, asking for her number or to meet him in an on-call room somewhere, but each time she avoided answering him.

GAGAGAGAGAGAGAGAGAGAGA

It was a busy day at the hospital and one were the gossips could run rampant with all the new secrets that were exposed.

His best friend had been admitted and he was busy working with him when he got the page that the Chief was having a meeting for all of the surgical staff. The meeting was amusing, and he tried his best to show that he found the whole thing amusing and he was not part of the staff that was sleeping around. But this meeting did bring questions to his mind about his relationship with Cristina. They never talked, never set rules and for all he knew he could be just be one of many.

It's then that the elevators door opened and he saw her standing there, trying to look discrete. He walks over and stands beside her, removing his glasses and also trying to look discrete. He really needed to talk to her, needed to tell her things and to have answers to the questions he had.

"You're avoiding me"

"I'm busy, at work. I-I'm working"

"Why are you in this line?"

"It's the syphilis line"

"You don't need to be in this line"

"I don't?"

"There's no one else" He tries to gauge her reaction to see if he can get a small glimpse of the real Cristina. He sees half her face out of the corner of his eye as she turns toward him for the first time since he's been standing there; he thinks he sees a look of surprise of her face.

"That surprises you?"

"Nothing surprises me" She never gives him something to go on, he's always digging for more, and he can't figure out why he's still chasing her.

"Do I need to be in this line?"

"No" And with one simple answer he can't help but still feel this strange attraction to her and he's not willing to give her up yet.

"Ok, then"

"Ok"

So he walks away feeling a little better knowing that she's not pushing him away because of other men.

GAGAGAGAGAGAGAGAGAGAGA

Her reluctance to get close didn't deter him; he had fallen maybe a little too hard too fast. Cristina was a mystery to him, one that he was determined to solve. She was also addicting, her hair, her smell, the way her eyes would light up when talking about surgery. She was an addiction, one he wasn't willing to give up right away.


End file.
